Objectives:
- Understand the role of the Builder in others spiritual journeys.
- Recognise the reality and diversity of obstacles in spiritual journeys.
- Understand the importance and principles of bridge-building.
- Identify an acquaintance that is stuck spiritually and take a step to provide a bridge.
Section 1: Sharing
Lead a time of sharing thoughts from the weeks devotionals found in Passages: A Devotional Journey and any reports from significant spiritual conversations.
Section 2: Caution: Obstacles ahead
Draw a circle [representing a person on a spiritual journey] surrounded by three interlocking circles. Label them for different kinds of issues: Intellectual, emotional and volitional. Brainstorm examples of each (a few examples are below).
The challenge for the builder is not not knowing the right answer or response to each issue. Rather, it is to know the principles that apply no matter what the issue.
Section 2: A Model Bridge Builder
Read the text together, by section, discussing the following questions:
What were the Athenians obstacles? [16-21]
Idols. Philosophy. Laziness. Followed Fads.
Where did Paul begin? [22,23]
Recognised their religious inclinations. Their altar to an unknown God.
Where did Paul end? [31]
Need for repentance. Coming judgement of all idolatry. Judge appointed. Proof of the resurrection of Jesus.
How did he connect the two? [24-30]
Proclaim the unknown God. Creator, ruler, life-giver, greater than creation. Our purpose is to seek and find God. Our views of God are wrong.
What was the result? [32-34]
Some sneered. Some were curious and wanted more. Some believed and followed.
The key principle: An effective bridge begins where the person is at, ends with Jesus and connects the two effectively.
Section 3: The Art and Science of Building
Review: Just as…
- An Explorer has two primary tools: Listening and asking questions
- A Guide has three: Christian community, your personal story, the gospel
The
Builder has two primary tools:
Prayer and
God’s Word. If you are building a road and you come to an obstacle, you either remove it or you build a bridge over it.
Prayer
Prayer is essential because no matter what the issue looks like on the surface, it is ultimately a spiritual obstacle, used by the enemy to blind the eyes and keep in bondage [
2 Corinthians 4:4;
Ephesians 2:1-3;
2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.]
Share an example of someone coming to Christ after a time of being prayed for by someone. (It could be your story.)
God’s Word
God’s Word is the second tool. But how it is used is with Gentle Persuasion. The two words together give a rich picture of what is needed.
Persuade:
the root of the word comes from
per (thoroughly) and
suadere (to urge), and is related to the Latin word for sweet (
suavis). The picture is not of victory (winning a debate or argument), but of influence (urging a change.) It is attractive (sweet) not offensive. Paul was persuasive [
Acts 17:2-4.]
Gentleness
Gentleness is strength under control. A gentle person is not a weak person. A gentle person is a safe person. (Think of a gentle stallion – powerful, but safe.) People on spiritual journeys need gentle persuasion. They need us to come beside them, understanding where they are at, helping them over the issue or
Beginning point:
Understand the issue. Explore and ask questions. It may sound like an intellectual issue (Why does God allow evil?), when in reality it is emotional (Why did this happen to me?) Let them know you understand and appreciate it. Don’t minimise or make light of it.
Ending Point:
Ultimately, this is about Jesus. Don’t end up talking about peripheral matters [Churches, Christians, etc.]
Connect the Two
The most powerful connections include:
- The Bible: Share a verse and explain its implications to the issue.
- Your Experience: What has helped you related to this issue.
- Questions: Can you help them think differently about the issue?
- Stories: Is there a story they could relate with or an illustration they could understand?
Section 4: Examples of Bridges
Share personal examples of building bridges (or have others share their examples.) Examples could include: Someone who is self-dependent. Someone struggling with evil. Someone struggling with pluralism (“all religions lead to the same place.”). Someone with a bad experience. Etc.
Section 5 – Builder Resources
Share examples of recommended resources for builders:
Websites:
Everystudent.com
Books to Read
Books to loan or give-away.
(Incidentally, it is normally better to loan something, than to give something. If you loan it, there is an expectation that they will read and return it. If you give it, they can get to it whenever it is convenient, and often it goes unread.)
DVD’s or Videos
Section 6 – Preparing to Build
Prayer
Conversationally pray together through:
Preparation
Choose a book, video or other resource to begin.
- What are the issues it is addressing?
- How is it doing it?
- For whom would this be effective?
- How could it be improved?
